Monthly Archives: August 2015

Knowing what one is talking about is not a matter of professionalism. It is a matter of good education. Click on the image to access.

Every cultural change is firm when it is integrated into the habits of the community. A change has to be a custom in a community before becoming a habit. But customs must be supported by ethics. It all begins with a new ethic, then it develops into a custom and finally it becomes a habit. Ethic, as a concept, is a functional rule based on moral values and an ideology.

The “Ethic of Foundations” establishes the basic rules to manage reliable knowledge in order to generate value. It transforms epistemology into rules for action.

The epistemology is based on the development of logical foundations and empirical justifications to sustain human knowledge. This epistemology is a pragmatic, structural and functionalist approach to knowledge that replaced knowledge falsification processes by destructive testing processes.

The schism in science that integrates the “know-how” and the “know-why” requires having the fundamentals of facts and not only justifying a knowledge using empirical confirmation. That is why, almost 30 years ago, the Ethic of Foundations was introduced in The Unicist Research Institute to establish a framework for the activities with the context. It was the basic step for the development of the Unicist Epistemology.

The ethic of foundations represents a moral code related to the respect for others and their authority. Respect for others is necessary in order to discuss our own arguments. Respect for others’ authority is the only way to accept their fundamentals as valid.

Benefits of the use of fundamentals:

Supporting of synergistic leadership

Synergistic leadership is possible when it is based on the fundamentals of the participants. The democratic aspects of organizations are provided by the consideration of the fundamentals of all the members of a working group.

Balancing the small with the big, the weak with the strong

The fundamentals of an argument are worth their own weight, regardless of who is arguing. The “ethic of foundations” requires that arguments are worth their own value without considering the subjective qualities of the one who is arguing. Therefore fundamentals have no rank because they are only functional knowledge.

Promotion of the value of work as a source of richness and personal fulfillment

As a concept, work is an activity to produce an added value for others and a benefit for the one who generated such added value. Synergy is the basis of working in groups, and there is actual added value whenever the operating knowledge is valid. Fundaments are the basis of valid knowledge

Promotion of science and technology

By definition science and technology requires knowing the fundamentals. The ethic of foundations is the basic driving force for technological development.

Promotion of justice as equality of opportunities

It has to be considered that fundamentals are worth their own weight, and allow generating value while the personal value of an individual is measured by the value added. The ethic of foundations sustains the equality of opportunities.

It is the necessary basis for synergy

Synergy means to be capable of doing something by oneself, and be a member of a group in search of a higher added value to be achieved in a more effective way. The integration to a group requires sharing the fundamentals of actions.

It allows leveling upwards

The lack of foundations naturally leads to an autocratic leadership with a manipulative attitude, while the existence of foundations naturally leads to a synergistic leadership.

Autocracy and manipulation are based on fallacious fundamentals. In this sense, foundations destroy autocracy and manipulation. Foundation is an antidote to fraud, and drives the participants of a working group to multiply their capacity of generating added-value.